The saying "mastery comes from diligence" is from Han Yu's "Explanation of Progress in Learning".
Tips
history
韩愈 wrote it in 813, as a professor at the 国子监 who had been passed over for promotion. A teacher urges his students to work hard; one student laughs that all the teacher's own diligence has brought him nothing; the teacher's reply is a wry defence of his lot. The chief ministers read it, took the hint and gave him a better post.
culture
Many set phrases go back to it. 业精于勤 "mastery comes from diligence" and 焚膏继晷 "to burn the midnight oil" are its own words, while 兼收并蓄 "to take in everything" and 力挽狂澜 "to stem a raging tide" grew out of its lines.
